Ukraine orders evacuation of key city near Kharkov

The move comes following reports that Russian troops are advancing in the area

The Ukrainian authorities have announced a mandatory evacuation in part of Kharkov Region bordering Russia’s Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics. The order comes after the Defense Ministry in Moscow said its troops had made headway in the area.

In a written order on Thursday, Andrey Kanashevich, acting head of the Kupiansk military administration, published a list of 37 settlements near the combat zone that were to be evacuated by local residents. He cited “constant [Russian] artillery attacks and the security situation” as the reason for the decision, adding that the order also applies to the city of Kupiansk itself.

The directive came as the Russian Defense Ministry said that its assault units had “improved their forward positions while conducting offensive actions.” Russian Telegram channel Voyennaya Chronica reported that Russian troops were only seven kilometers away from Kupiansk, with the city itself now within artillery range.

Kupiansk was captured by Russian troops shortly after the start of the Ukraine conflict in February 2022, but Kiev retook it last autumn when Moscow announced the regrouping of its forces in the area in a bid to concentrate on the liberation of Donbass.

The city, which is located around 116km from Kharkov and divided in two by the Oskol River, is home to a major railway station crucial for supplying troops deployed south of the city. Russian military experts have also said that should Moscow take control of Kupiansk, it would help thwart any Ukrainian attacks on the Lugansk People’s Republic.

The evacuation order and reports of Russian advances come as a much-hyped Ukrainian counteroffensive drags on. Kiev’s attacks have so far failed to gain any ground, according to Moscow. Last week, Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu estimated Ukrainian losses since the start of the push in early June at more than 43,000 troops and nearly 5,000 pieces of military equipment.

https://www.rt.com/russia/581098-ukraine-orders-evacuation-kupyansk/

Federal Court Declares Trump A Flight Risk In Secret Subpoena Decision

The disclosure of a subpoena of Twitter by Special Counsel Jack Smith was surprising in a number of respects, including the hefty $350,000 fine imposed by U.S. District Court Beryl Howell (below) for a three-day delay as the company sought to address the demand.

However, the two most surprising, and concerning, elements was that the subpoena was secret and Howell justified it, in part, on Trump being a flight risk. Neither seems warranted in this case even the subpoena was in other respects warranted.

Special counsel Jack Smith subpoenaed and obtained a search warrant related to former President Trump’s account on Twitter, now X. However, he also sought the information with a nondisclosure order that prohibited X from disclosing the existence or contents of the search warrant to Trump or anyone else. However, Trump already knew he was under investigation, so why was there a need for nondisclosure?

The court found that Trump might change his course of conduct but that seems unlikely.

If anything Trump has been most consistent in his social media practices. Indeed, while some of us have criticized him for his posting, he has remained entirely undeterred.

The lower court stated that “The district court found that there were ‘reasonable grounds to believe’ that disclosing the warrant to former President Trump ‘would seriously jeopardize the ongoing investigation’ by giving him ‘an opportunity to destroy evidence, change patterns of behavior, [or] notify confederates.'”

It is not clear how Trump would destroy the evidence in possession of Twitter, particularly after the company is informed that it must preserve and disclose the meta data.

Then there was the added rational that was tucked into footnote 2 of the D.C. Circuit opinion: Trump might flee.

Judge Howell actually agreed that the former President was a flight risk.

Process that for a second. Trump has 24/7 security. So Howell agreed that he might shake his sizable security detail, evade them, and go on the lam. He is one of the most recognized figures in the world. He would have to go to Mars to live incognito.

It is facially absurd. Trump has been sued and criminal charged across the country. He has never made a break for it. Where would he go? Cuba?

The finding of a flight risk undermines the credibility of the court’s order. This is not to question the ability to force the release of the information. However, the need for secrecy is far from evident. Rather it succeeded in preventing any challenge.

https://jonathanturley.org/2023/08/10/federal-court-declares-trump-a-flight-risk-in-secret-subpoena-decision/

Fauci, Collins Bagged 58 Royalty Payments Amid $325 Million Collected By NIH

The two longtime directors of the National Institutes of Health and its National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Francis Collins and Anthony Fauci received 58 royalty payments from companies to license and deploy their products using taxpayer dollars, according to a new release from OpenTheBooks.

On Wednesday, the organization published more than 1500 pages of unredacted records revealing which companies were involved, and which NIH scientists were paid for inventions. The release came after a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) battle with the NIH, reports Just the News.

The 56,000 transactions add up to more than $325 million, according to OpenTheBooks, though the individual amounts for each payment and corresponding license are not listed in the records.

Fauci received 37 payments from three companies between 2010-2021: 15 from Santa Cruz Biotechnology, which creates products for medical research including antibodies and made the fifth-most payments in the royalty database; 14 from Ancell Corp., which produces immunology tolls; and eight from Chiron Corp., acquired by Novartis in 2006. -JTN

According to the report, Novartis has received some $17 million in NIH contract payments and $15 million in NIH grants since the acquisition of Chiron. In 2004, Fauci's NIAID had a contract with the company to develop an avian influenza vaccine.

Collins, meanwhile, who stepped down as NIH director at the end of 2021 before serving as President Joe Biden's COVID-19 czar, received 21 payments from four companies between 2010 and 2018. Twelve of them came from GeneDX, which received $5 million in federal contract payments - mostly from NIH - since 2008.

Quest Diagnostics' Specialty Laboratories, a biological testing company, made four payments to Collins. He received four more from Ionis Pharmaceuticals, originally named ISIS, which develops RNA-targeted therapeutics. The last entity to pay Collins was the Progeria Research Foundation - a nonprofit which does research for congenital disorders.

According to OpenTheBooks, obtaining the full names and license numbers for each payment - which the NIH had originally redacted until a court forced them to unredact - was crucial for "scrutinizing these records for potential conflicts of interest or public health risks."

As Just the News further notes, Fauci has already admitted to receiving more than $45,000 in royalties nearly two decades ago when he was also NIAID director, for an experimental AIDS treatment funded by the NIH.

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/fauci-collins-bagged-58-royalty-payments-amid-325-million-collected-nih